Toads is good fun. Christmas Valley nearby is as well. If you find yourself near the Flume again, drop down Chimney Beach Trail from the south end of Marlette Lake. That makes a great ending for a ride from Mt Rose / Tahoe Meadows to Flume.

Took Matt out on his first road ride, post cardiac arrest on April 14th. We actually did 23 miles. He has been going to rehab 3 days a week but he started out much faster than I expected...16-18 mph. He said it felt great getting out and spinning.

Last night's Griffith Park ride was cancelled due to a brushfire on the south facing side of the mountain. So this morning turned into an impromptu OTBmbc midweek ride.
Todays ride was called Sunrise at Rocky Peak. Four of us met at 6:15am at the Rocky peak exit on the 118 fwy. The route: Up rocky peak, down Hummingbird, up Chumash, down Johnson FR, up stagecoach and back to the cars.

Rode up in SLO today, Cerro San Luis /Lemon Grove loop and other trails in the area. Met up with Tim again who knows many of the trails. Great ST and a climb up to the big M on the hill there. Most of the climbing was up front, no warm up.
Tim gave me some history of the area of a spring at the top that feeds a lemon grove that was planted about 100 yrs ago. Tim picked a lemon and gave it to me to sample.......sour but good!
There were a couple of short techy areas, great views at every turn, and nice tree cover here and there. Temps in the upper 60's!!
Had to get back to the family, so just got nearly 8 miles and 1700ft .

Only a short ride today to test out two things.
1. See if the shop finally found the source of the creaking. Success!
2. Check out the newly installed oval chainring.

A couple of weeks ago the shop let me use a loner while mine was in the shop. My ridding bud showed me a short loose climb I had not ridden before. I was thinking that there was no way I would be able to make it up. As I was about to stall out I stood up and put a little more power down. I expected to just lose traction but that wasn't the case and I just clawed up to the top. Throughout the ride I seemed to have a little more power than normal too. There was nothing unusual about the tires on the bike and my bike is lighter and has a reputation as a good climber. I wondered if the difference could be the absolute black oval chainring.
I tried the same climb on my bike a couple times after that and didn't make it. Not enough traction.
Today, with the oval, I floated up that sucker. It just might be the real deal - at least for me.
Longer ride tomorrow. I'll have to see how my bike performs on some of the longer climbs.
It looks like I need to wipe the shop grease off before I ride tomorrow too

Last night's Griffith Park ride was cancelled due to a brushfire on the south facing side of the mountain. So this morning turned into an impromptu OTBmbc midweek ride.
Todays ride was called Sunrise at Rocky Peak. Four of us met at 6:15am at the Rocky peak exit on the 118 fwy. The route: Up rocky peak, down Hummingbird, up Chumash, down Johnson FR, up stagecoach and back to the cars.

No helicopter ride, but still had a good time in San Clemente! Cooler today, with a nice breeze off the ocean. Still crazy humid though. Tried exploring some alternate trails, and ended up missing a turn and having to take the effin' fire road up. Yuck. But after that a fun downhill. Looked at the time, and saw I was only out there for an hour, so dropped another trail down. Still not at full capacity after last weekend's virus, but getting there.

Only a short ride today to test out two things.
I was thinking that there was no way I would be able to make it up. As I was about to stall out I stood up and put a little more power down. I expected to just lose traction but that wasn't the case and I just clawed up to the top. Throughout the ride I seemed to have a little more power than normal too. There was nothing unusual about the tires on the bike and my bike is lighter and has a reputation as a good climber. I wondered if the difference could be the absolute black oval chainring.

Click to expand...

I bet you would have made it up that section if you had put a larger round chainring on rather than the oval. Smaller chainrings seem to lose traction too easy. That was why I got rid of my small chainring years ago. When I first got my Ibis I seemed to have no end of trouble spinning out on descents using the granny ring, but I could climb them in middle ring no problem as long as my legs had enough power. Took the small chainring off and never looked back. No narrow-wide back then so I used a chain guide or stinger...

I bet you would have made it up that section if you had put a larger round chainring on rather than the oval. Smaller chainrings seem to lose traction too easy. That was why I got rid of my small chainring years ago. When I first got my Ibis I seemed to have no end of trouble spinning out on descents using the granny ring, but I could climb them in middle ring no problem as long as my legs had enough power. Took the small chainring off and never looked back. No narrow-wide back then so I used a chain guide or stinger...

Click to expand...

"as long as my legs had enough power" is right. Mine don't. I'm lucky to be able walk at my age never mind ride a bike

I finally got back in the saddle today. I think it's been 8 days since the last ride. Just a ride over to and through Cherry Canyon. I felt pretty good. The fire roads have been scratched out again. Somebody has done quite a bite of work on the trails and I'm not pleased with some of it. They dumped deep loose dirt into the turns and they sanitized a few of the mini chunk sections. Now it really needs rain to pack it down. Rolling through those deep/loose corners at speed is like getting a flat tire suddenly. You just bog to a near halt.

Pretty evening outside though. No bike traffic at all and minimal hikers. Very peaceful. The humidity didn't bother me a long as I kept moving.

I discovered that I need to refresh the Stan's in my wheels. The front has what sounds like a hardened marble sized booger that beats around in there quite annoyingly as I rolled along and the drivetrain shifted horribly. The chain needs to be removed, cleaned, and lubed. TJ was a grumpy gal tonight.

I finally got back in the saddle today. I think it's been 8 days since the last ride. Just a ride over to and through Cherry Canyon. I felt pretty good. The fire roads have been scratched out again. Somebody has done quite a bite of work on the trails and I'm not pleased with some of it. They dumped deep loose dirt into the turns and they sanitized a few of the mini chunk sections. Now it really needs rain to pack it down. Rolling through those deep/loose corners at speed is like getting a flat tire suddenly. You just bog to a near halt.

Pretty evening outside though. No bike traffic at all and minimal hikers. Very peaceful. The humidity didn't bother me a long as I kept moving.

I discovered that I need to refresh the Stan's in my wheels. The front has what sounds like a hardened marble sized booger that beats around in there quite annoyingly as I rolled along and the drivetrain shifted horribly. The chain needs to be removed, cleaned, and lubed. TJ was a grumpy gal tonight.

Skypark with the family. I took a 90 min. leave of absence and sampled a couple of trails. Very fun. Sampled some dirt too. Less fun. But I'd rather pay my required blood sacrifices in small installments than in one lump sum (looking at you @Mikie). 2x Sleigh Ride. 4x Arrow. All runs all the way to the bottom (all 400 ft.).

I have to say, the staff at Skypark are off-the-hook nice - and usually entertaining as well. I'm thinking they are all LDS. Such a good vibe up there for my 8 yo daughter (who also rode a little today) and my wife (who rode a little lap with daughter and me).

Yay!

Nice to meet @mountaingirl sara in person today. She was finishing as we arrived. Bike park opens at 9:00. The rest of the attractions open at Noon on Thursday and Friday. Sara had finished 9 runs and had a bit of dirt on her from an up-close encounter with a trail. No harm done. We chatted for a bit and then she was on her way.

See? I would have preferred that she was more in the photo and me less, but this is all I got.

I bet you would have made it up that section if you had put a larger round chainring on rather than the oval. Smaller chainrings seem to lose traction too easy. That was why I got rid of my small chainring years ago. When I first got my Ibis I seemed to have no end of trouble spinning out on descents using the granny ring, but I could climb them in middle ring no problem as long as my legs had enough power. Took the small chainring off and never looked back. No narrow-wide back then so I used a chain guide or stinger...

Click to expand...

I can climb the looser stuff on the single speed easier with the oval... It's much easier to regain pedaling momentum on terrain where I have to start and stop pedaling frequently. Get the crank in position, and "flip" it over the top to start the downward stroke...

As some of you know, the Mrs. recently had a health scare, so I've been off the bike for close to two weeks. So when @horsebikerider offered birthday tacos on home dirt, I was in! My actual birthday was last week and it wasn't a pleasant time... Tonight made up for it.

Four of us rode out and back on the Bell Trail (of Rwanda 50 fame...). A little extra credit single track descent, some Starr Rise, and a monster birthday burrito at Los Primos afterwards. What can I say? Good ride, Great people, awesome food... Life is good.

22 miles and 2300 feet... I'm really putting in the monster miles this month.

Last night's Griffith Park ride was cancelled due to a brushfire on the south facing side of the mountain. So this morning turned into an impromptu OTBmbc midweek ride.
Todays ride was called Sunrise at Rocky Peak. Four of us met at 6:15am at the Rocky peak exit on the 118 fwy. The route: Up rocky peak, down Hummingbird, up Chumash, down Johnson FR, up stagecoach and back to the cars.

Skypark with the family. I took a 1:30 leave of absence and sampled a couple of trails. Very fun. Sampled some dirt too. Less fun. But I'd rather pay my required blood sacrifices in small installments than in one lump sum (looking at you @Mikie). 2x Sleigh Ride. 4x Arrow. All runs all the way to the bottom (all 400 ft.).

I have to say, the staff at Skypark are off-the-hook nice - and usually entertaining as well. I'm thinking they are all LDS. Such a good vibe up there for my 8 yo daughter (who also rode a little today) and my wife (who rode a little lap with daughter and me).

Yay!

Nice to meet @mountaingirl sara in person today. She was finishing as we arrived. Bike park opens at 9:00. The rest of the attractions open at Noon on Thursday and Friday. Sara had finished 9 runs and had a bit of dirt on her from an up-close encounter with a trail. No harm done. We chatted for a bit and then she was on her way.

See? I would have preferred that she was more in the photo and me less, but this is all I got.

Click to expand...

thanks for braving the selfie with my post ride dirt and stink and glad you guys had fun!!! What a sweet family you have Chris!
We need another crack at those trails

As some of you know, the Mrs. recently had a health scare, so I've been off the bike for close to two weeks. So when @horsebikerider offered birthday tacos on home dirt, I was in! My actual birthday was last week and it wasn't a pleasant time... Tonight made up for it.

Four of us rode out and back on the Bell Trail (of Rwanda 50 fame...). A little extra credit single track descent, some Starr Rise, and a monster birthday burrito at Los Primos afterwards. What can I say? Good ride, Great people, awesome food... Life is good.

22 miles and 2300 feet... I'm really putting in the monster miles this month.